Motives to Have Sex: Measurement and Correlates With Sociodemographic, Sexual Life, and Psychosexual Characteristics

Abstract

Knowledge of diverse sexual motivations can have profound implications for our comprehension of the causes, correlations, and consequences of sexual behavior. This study had two objectives: on the one hand, to determine the different motives why young Spanish university students have sex and their relationship with different sociodemographic and psychosexual variables and sexual behavior; on the other hand, to review and improve the psychometric properties of the Sexual Motivations Scale and validate it in Spanish. Participants were 805 university students of both sexes (78% women, 74% heterosexuals), aged between 18 and 26 years (Mage = 20.88), who completed a battery of online questionnaires. Significant associations were found between young people's sexual motives, especially the motives of coping, peer pressure, and enhancement, the sociodemographic variables (sex, age sexual orientation, relational status), sexual behavior (age of initiation), and psychosexual variables (sociosexuality, self-esteem as a sexual partner, satisfaction with sex life). Also, a new structure of the Sexual Motivations Scale was proposed, with the elimination of the factor of Self-Affirmation. The discussion highlights the relevance of the results obtained due to their implications in the promotion of sexual health, in addition to achieving the first instrument validated in Spanish for the evaluation of sexual motivations.

The Scent of Mating Strategy: Sociosexual Orientation Might Influence Body Odor Sniffing Behavior Through Subjective Importance of Olfaction in Chinese and American Populations

“…Conversely, a more "unrestricted" sociosexual orientation is associated with a short-term mating strategy and a tendency to engage in sexual activity sooner in relationships, have more sex partners, and enjoy casual, uncommitted sex (DeLecce et al, 2014;Penke & Asendorpf, 2011;Zheng et al, 2014). Individuals with a more "unrestricted" sociosexual orientation have a higher dyadic sexual desire (desire for sexual activity with a partner), greater motivations for sexual behavior, earlier sexual experiences, more lifetime sex partners, and engage in sexual activity more frequently (Barrada et al, 2021;O'Connor et al, 2014;Romero et al, 2023;Yost & Zurbriggen, 2006).…”

Sexual Motivation in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis: A Controlled Cross-Sectional Study

“…In fact, the motives with which people enter a sexual situation may determine whether they will open themselves to and accept sexual stimulation or not. 18 Importantly, a wide variety of sexual motives may influence sexual behaviour, 16 , 17 , 19 and an individual may experience various reasons or motives for interest in sex. Moreover, individual sexual motives may be uniquely correlated with sexual behaviour in situations specifically affording motive-related incentives.…”

“…Moreover, individual sexual motives may be uniquely correlated with sexual behaviour in situations specifically affording motive-related incentives. 15 , 16 …”

“…9 The construct of global sexual desire, however, has rather limited utility, both conceptually and in terms of accurately predicting behaviour. [14][15][16] The multidimensional perspective of sexual motives, in contrast, has been shown to provide a more inclusive and accurate characterization of the various motivational functions regarding sex. [14][15][16][17] Notably, sexual motives are more specific in their focus than the construct of global sexual desire, 14,15 and study data indicate that sexual motives can be distinguished from global desire.…”

“…[14][15][16] The multidimensional perspective of sexual motives, in contrast, has been shown to provide a more inclusive and accurate characterization of the various motivational functions regarding sex. [14][15][16][17] Notably, sexual motives are more specific in their focus than the construct of global sexual desire, 14,15 and study data indicate that sexual motives can be distinguished from global desire. 14,15 Moreover, there is a distinctive relationship between specific sexual motives and sexual behaviour, controlling for the influence of global desire, 14,15 and reactions to incentive-specific sexual situations are more strongly related to relevant sexual motives than to global sexual desire.…”